ASCE FORATE IN PIETRA LEVIGATA E ALTRI INDICATORI DI SCAMBI E CONTATTI NEL CAPUT ADRIAE TRA IV E III MILLENNIO A.C

A long-term project has allowed the provenance identification of the main groups of Neolithic and Copper Age stone axes from Caput Adriae. Stone artefacts can indeed be scientifically analysed to detect the geological origin of the raw materials and thus try to recognize ancient exchange networks. This contribution summarizes the lithology, typology, distribution and origin of the main groups of Copper Age shaft-hole axes, using their geological signature, together with other available archaeological indicators of medium- and long-distance connections, to reconstruct the main cultural developments that occurred in the investigated area. The main groups of Copper Age shaft-hole axes - Ljubljana type, serpentinite and metadolerite artefacts - were produced from raw materials outcropping in the Eisenkappler Diabaszug complex (Austria), the Hohe Tauern (Austria) and probably the Banija Ophiolite Complex (Croatia) respectively, all areas rich in copper ore deposits. These data demonstrate that since the 4th millennium BC, the exchange network responsible for the distribution of stone axes in the Caput Adriae changed from long-distance Neolithic connection systems based mainly on Italian jades and eclogites to a more complex one, characterized by a new interest for the eastern Alpine and northern Balkan world. The association of lithic raw materials used for axe production and copper minerals shows that the changes in raw material exploitation strategies between the Neolithic and Copper Age are probably related to the development of the first metallurgy. Archaeological evidence, including the distribution of Ljubljana type stone axes, S. Antonino/Kozarac copper axes, and Vučedol and Ljubljana style pottery, shows that the coastal belt of Caput Adriae, from the Friuli plain to the Istrian peninsula and beyond, was strongly connected with nowadays central Slovenia at least since the last centuries of the 4th millennium BC to the mid 3rd millennium BC.